The third day of their journey began with Deren nearly falling off his horse.
It wasn't dramatic.
There was no ambush, no collapsing bridge, no monster lunging out of the trees.
He simply yawned, leaned a little too far to one side, and slowly slid out of the saddle.
Maeve watched him hit the ground.
Seralyn looked over her shoulder.
Kaelen stopped his horse.
Deren lay there for a moment, staring up at the sky.
"...I meant to do that."
Maeve folded her arms.
"You fell asleep."
"I was practicing tactical dismounts."
"You landed on your face."
"A tactical face-first dismount."
Seralyn nodded thoughtfully.
"Very advanced."
Deren sat up.
"I don't appreciate the lack of support."
Kaelen climbed down from his horse and held out a hand.
Deren took it.
"You know," he said while brushing dirt from his clothes, "a good friend would have caught me."
Kaelen looked at him.
"You weigh more than I do."
"So?"
"So I'd have fallen too."
Deren thought about it.
"...Fair enough."
The road stretched ahead of them, winding between low hills and fields of golden grain. The capital was still several days away.
For once, nobody was in a hurry.
Maeve walked her horse beside Kaelen's.
"You know what I realized?"
"What?"
"I haven't had a proper night's sleep since the tournament started."
Deren looked offended.
"You slept through my watch two nights ago."
"I was resting my eyes."
"You were snoring."
"I do not snore."
Seralyn spoke without looking back.
"You do."
Deren frowned.
"You too?"
"I had first watch."
"You could hear me from over there?"
"There were birds leaving the trees."
Maeve burst into laughter.
Kaelen smiled quietly to himself.
Deren pointed at him.
"There. You laughed."
"I smiled."
"That was definitely a laugh."
"It wasn't."
Maeve nodded.
"It was."
Kaelen looked between the three of them.
"Have you all decided to annoy me today?"
Deren grinned.
"No."
"We decided that yesterday."
They continued down the road.
The morning passed lazily.
They talked about instructors they disliked.
Maeve insisted that Instructor Halvek secretly enjoyed making students suffer.
Deren claimed the man simply hated young people.
Seralyn quietly suggested that perhaps they had all been terrible students.
Deren looked genuinely shocked.
"I was an excellent student."
Maeve raised an eyebrow.
"You set a barracks roof on fire."
"It was a very small fire."
"You dropped a lantern."
"It slipped."
"You threw it."
"I threw it carefully."
Even Seralyn laughed at that.
Kaelen listened more than he spoke.
A year ago, he would have walked ahead by himself.
Now, he found himself slowing down just to hear the argument continue.
Around midday, they reached a roadside inn.
It was nothing special.
A stone building with faded wooden shutters and a stable that looked older than the kingdom itself.
A sign above the door read:
THE WANDERING STAG
Deren looked ready to cry.
"Real food."
Maeve frowned.
"We have food."
"We have dried meat."
"It's not that bad."
"It was dried before I was born."
Seralyn tied her horse to the fence.
"I think he's exaggerating."
Deren looked at her.
"You ate it too."
"I survived."
"Barely."
The common room was warm and crowded.
Merchants occupied one side.
A pair of old hunters sat near the fireplace arguing over cards.
The four found an empty table.
A serving girl approached.
"What can I get you?"
Before anyone else could speak, Deren answered.
"Stew."
She nodded.
"And bread."
Another nod.
"And whatever meat you've got."
She looked at Maeve.
Maeve sighed.
"Yes. Bring the meat."
The girl walked away.
Deren leaned back in his chair.
"I think this might be the happiest day of my life."
"You made the tournament finals," Maeve reminded him.
"I can have two happy days."
Kaelen looked around the room.
Travelers.
Farmers.
Hunters.
Nobody paid them much attention.
He found that strangely comforting.
Then a deep voice came from behind him.
"I still think you got lucky."
The four of them turned.
Rhess stood near the entrance, a travel pack over one shoulder and his hammer resting across the other.
Deren blinked.
"...You're alive."
Rhess frowned.
"Were you expecting otherwise?"
"I watched Kaelen hit you."
"So did I."
"You looked dead."
"I was resting."
Maeve looked between them.
"Did all of you learn humor from the same person?"
Rhess walked over.
"No."
Deren stood up.
"Then why are you here?"
Rhess looked genuinely confused.
"To eat."
Deren opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Looked at the inn.
Looked back at Rhess.
"...Right."
Rhess sat down without asking.
The serving girl returned carrying the food.
She stopped.
"There are only four bowls."
Rhess smiled.
"I'll take his."
He pointed at Deren.
Deren clutched his bowl protectively.
"You fought me yesterday."
"I lost."
"You nearly killed Kaelen."
"He survived."
"You are absolutely not taking my lunch."
Rhess looked at Kaelen.
"Is he always like this?"
Kaelen took a spoonful of stew.
"Pretty much."
Maeve nodded.
"He gets worse when he's hungry."
Seralyn quietly added,
"Or awake."
For a moment Rhess simply stared at the four of them.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
Not the proud laugh of a warrior.
Just an ordinary one.
"You know," he said, "I always thought tournament teams went their separate ways."
Deren shrugged.
"Probably."
Maeve looked around the table.
"...Would be a shame though."
Nobody answered.
The silence wasn't awkward.
Just thoughtful.
Finally Rhess picked up his spoon.
"I spoke to my commander before I left."
Deren narrowed his eyes.
"Why do I suddenly not like where this is going?"
Rhess ignored him.
"I told him I wanted my first assignment with your group."
Maeve blinked.
"You can do that?"
"Probably not."
"Then why ask?"
Rhess took a bite of stew.
"Because I hate losing."
Kaelen looked at him.
Rhess met his eyes and smiled.
"And if I can't beat you..."
He gestured around the table.
"...I might as well travel with you."
Deren sighed heavily.
"I knew this was going to become our problem."
For the first time since the tournament had ended, all five of them laughed together.